Dwellings

Below I am going to put some travels thru the East end that I have done. I will try to go a little farther and wider today. There were some reports of fires but I am not sure where people have gotten news of that.
On a personal note, the new cafeteria is now open in the center parking lot (1 kitchen tent and two A/C's tents I believe) for employees and UTMB related contractors. Today's goals : shaved (already done) shower (after lunch in the new tent), Insurance calls, and getting more multimedia experience of the island. If you are an employee, regular email is back (never realized all of the spam that is filtered out), can be accessed on the web. Go to the home page for official updates.
For Galveston, www.galveston.com is putting out some update links to news stories and also links for FEMA relief and finding lost family and friends.
Thanks for watching this blog.

The real source of the fire - are you commenting (about the blog in general or your current experience)?

The fire was a gray black belch of smoke from plastic / fiberglass / resin boats. This fire because of its dense smoke made several news agencies guess that UTMB was on fire. When it began, Galveston Fire looked at it and the rising waters made it impossible to fight. Two blackhawks surveiled by air after this but with the winds gaining speed left the area to safety. Life over property.

Some more pix - Don't forget to please comment!!!

So we were able to get some time to noodle around with help from the DMAT teams getting patient care taken care of. So, here goes... Large amounts of water require larger pieces of equiptment. Pumping out the first floor and other below grade volumes. Parking lot drains clogged, making the first floor a pool of water pumped out two days later (just pumped out on tuesday). This is a scene repeated all over - usually it is the poles that hold up the wires. Forceful acts of nature often create seemingly random effects. Here a large potted plant is placed almost perfectly in the middle of the intersection.

3 injured in structural fire overnight

This is why folks need to stay away / evacuate off premises of the island. I am sorry if I offend or are pushing this card too much, but just think Is it worth it? I am now alive, and it is only a stuff issue. Don't turn it into a threat to your health or life. No water, no sewer, no electricity is fun camping in the forest, but not in potentially dangerous houses with nothing much to deal with them. Please think twice before being ill prepared, especially this early in the game.


These pictures are from the time of the storm and as it was leaving / left. You may walk your halls at work on a daily basis, and say you can do it blindfolded, but could you really? How about if the power goes out and the newly waxed floors in the place with no power (no A/C) is constantly with condensation forming?

The water is receding some - was at the top step.

Alas, a bunch of water in the neighborhood still was there even after the winds died away. Just at it came before the wind it took 2 days to (mostly) drain.

A beautiful old live oak pulled the sidewalk up with it.

Note the double water mark denoting the high mark and then a lower persistant level. This is under a porch. My porch.

They are cleaning up the streets

They have moved in with some heavier equiptment and are cutting fallen trees and pushing stuff to the side. Still waiting for porta-potties at the hospital. Gonna go take care of some cats and birds and my place today (ground level was flooded).
I think that some of the thick soup left is a modern version of the primordial soup which gave rise to life. Just a bit more toxic. Have seen a few folks develop more nasty infections from small pricks in just 24 hours.
I am very proud to be part of this country and this recovery effort. I am thankful to all from the Coast Guard helicopter pilots and crews and other military pilots and crews who flew in the 50-70 mph winds to all those here today. I am thankful for all of the other ground support from the military and DMAT medical support and the SETRAC transport support. I am thankful to all who support this university operations and this city's operations. Please tell your loved ones who may be on this island that if they are staying, they are making a foolish mistake. Go, relax for a bit and you will be let back on. Stuff is stuff. If you stay and get very sick you will be going. No one is telling anyone to leave and never come back. We just want to let the folks supporting the recovery effort work on that and not worrying about John Q Public. It will allow it to proceed quicker. I live here and want to be back in full swing quick also.

Just to clarify - UTMB was never on fire. This proved to be an interesting issue (I can say interesting because the issue has come and gone). The acrid smoke only increased in volume and then came straight at UTMB. I had a sore throat for a few hours (yes, I was a dummy and was out in it some - helped move a locked motorcycle up to higher ground). The smell permeated the ED and went into the rest of the building. The ED was moved for a while, but then returned.